I Want To See You Be Brave
by littledarling-93
Summary: NEW DANTANA FIC. Santana has feelings for Dani but can she be brave enough to make the first move? Part based on new stills and part AU and my own stuff. Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of the characters in this fic or any off the songs used in this fic. They all belong to their original creators.
1. Chapter 1

"And that's it, we are done!" Santana breathed a sigh of relief as she threw the cloth she had been using to wipe down tables down on a nearby counter and sat herself down on the steps to the diner's stage. Dani smiled at her from across the room as she finished stacking some cups behind the cash register.

"It wasn't that bad today." She walked across the room towards her new friend. "You only had to stop Karl from hitting on you like what, three times?" Dani laughed at the look of disgust on Santana's face at the mention of the diner's sleaziest customer whose daily visits usually left her feeling like she needed to take a 2 hour long shower just to get his stink away from her.

"I swear if I wasn't basically living off his tips I'd have gone all Lima heights on his creepy ass the first time he opened his mouth." Dani shook her head as she sat down with her on the stairs.

"I mean it's not like he's the only one in the diner that notices you." Santana could feel her heart beat getting faster at Dani's words. Saying that she was attracted to this girl was a major understatement. Ever since Dani had started working at the diner a week earlier, she seemed to be a permanent fixture in her mind. Santana swallowed as she struggled to get out her words a little bit.

"Yeah?"

"Well yeah, you make more money in tips than anyone here and believe me when I say it's not because of your excellent customer service." Santana knew the blonde was joking with her and gave her a playful push to the shoulder. Since the two girls had met they had fallen very easily into this jokey, flirting banter thing they had going and Santana would be lying if she hadn't been incredibly happy when she had met the gorgeous girl.

"_Lopez, front and centre!" Santana rolled her eyes at the sound of the voice of the owner's idiot son Erik barking at her from behind the counter. _

"_Oh the joy you're here, to what do we owe the pleasure." _

"_Hey zip it girlie! Pops left me in charge while he's in Atlantic City for the weekend alright so less of the lip." Santana put on her best fake smile which he seemed to buy just forever carving into her mind that this guy was indeed a first class idiot. "Pops hired a new waitress and wanted me to you know show her the ropes but seeing as I'm the boss right now and I don't have time for that crap, you're gonna do it for me." _

"_Super." Santana mustered up all the fake enthusiasm that she could as Erik beckoned for her to follow him into the back room. When she walked in Santana was stunned as she set her eyes on the new waitress. It had been a while since Santana had felt instantly attracted to someone without knowing anything about them. In fact, there was only one other person that had happened with and that was Brittany, even if when they had met she had been too scared and insecure to realise what was happening, this time it hit her will full force. Santana's mind was running a mile a minute as she inwardly processed these feelings she was having. Telling herself to stop staring before she freaked the other girl out. _

"_Santana this is Darcy." _

"_Dani." The blonde corrected him._

"_Dani, whatever." Erik waved his hand in the air dismissing his mistake completely. "This chicks gonna show you the ropes. You girls play nice now." He shouted over his shoulder as he left them alone. _

"_So you're the famous Santana." Dani said with a smile holding out her hand. "Dani." _

"_I'm sorry?" Santana laughed nervously as she shook her hand. _

"_I know your roommate Rachel, we take classes at NYADA together." Santana's eyes opened wide as realisation hit as just who this girl was. For the past two months Rachel had been going on and on about a girl called Dani in her class and how she would be perfect for Santana and no matter how much she explained to her that Santana Lopez does not do blind dates, Rachel Berry would not let it go. _

"_Let me guess, Rachel got you the job here?" Dani nodded._

"_She sure did, she's a great friend. A little pushy but a great friend nonetheless." _

"_Try living with her." Dani laughed and smiled at Santana making her heart beat even faster than it already had been._

"_Well she's told me a lot about you and you know what I think I'm gonna like working here." Santana felt a smile grow on her own face at the other girl's words. Dani walked over to the door and held it open. "Ready when you are teach!" Santana walked over and made to leave the room, her eyes locked with Dani's and she had one thought in her head. I'm in trouble._

"Earth to Santana." Santana was brought out of her head by Dani waving a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Girl are you even listening to me?" Santana blinked and turned her head to see that Dani now had her guitar out.

"What? Sorry, totally spaced out there for a second."

"Yeah I noticed." They both laughed and Santana nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ears. _Stop being so lame, be cool Lopez_ she kept telling herself in her head.

"What's with the guitar I thought we were gonna just lock up and leave?"

"Well the truth is Santana, I have a little confession for you." Santana's heart started racing and she could feel her palms getting sweaty and gross, she casually wiped them on her skirt.

"Oh?" Dani nodded

"Ever since I heard you sing Valerie on my first day last week I've been dying to ask you if you'll sing with me and seeing as no one is here I thought that if I ask you now and you said yes we could have a little practice and if we sound good together then we can do it for the customers tomorrow. So what do you say?"

"Yes." Santana cursed herself for answering so quickly. "I mean, sure we can do that. Did you have a song in mind?" Dani nodded and put her guitar strap over her head. "What song?"

"Don't worry, you'll know it." She started and Dani was right, instantly Santana knew exactly what song it was.

_Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo)_

_Here comes the sun, and I say_

_It's all right_

Santana was mesmerised by Dani's voice as she had been since the first time she heard her sing. Dani's voice had a way of captivating her like nothing else ever had before and even though this new feeling was exciting, it also scared the hell out of her. Santana ignored her inner turmoil and joined in with the song.

_Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter_

_Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here_

The whole time she was singing, Santana could feel Dani's eyes watching her, taking in everything she was doing and it made her incredibly nervous.

_Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo)_

_Here comes the sun, and I say_

_It's all right_

Their voices mixed together and Santana knew they sounded great singing together, it was like their voices were made to sing together. She could feel her alter ego Snix inside of her screaming at her to stop being so damn pathetic and corny but for once Santana ignored it and went with the moment. She hadn't felt this at ease with someone in a long time.

_Little darling, the smiles returning to their faces_

_Little darling it seems like years since it's been here_

_Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo) _

_Here comes the sun, and I say_

_It's all right. _

For most of the song it felt like Santana's body was on auto pilot as she sang along with Dani and her guitar. For the first time in what felt like forever Santana felt she could truly be herself around this girl. She didn't have to hide behind her typical bitchy persona. Yes she was and always would be a bitch deep down but here was Dani, tearing down her walls one smile and flirtatious comment at a time and Santana was in many ways shocked that she was doing it so easily. Breaking up with Brittany and trying to get over her had hurt like hell and while she knew deep down that she would always love Brittany as her best friend, Dani made her feel like she could finally fully let go of the romantic side of that relationship and remember it as what it was, her first real relationship. The one that had helped her to see who she truly was and she would always be grateful to Brittany for giving her that courage and despite the end of their love story she had hundreds of happy memories with her first girlfriend that she wouldn't trade for anything, she felt like she was ready for something new.

_Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting_

_Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear_

_Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo)_

_Here comes the sun, and I say_

_It's all right _

The guitar got softer as the song started to draw to an end and Santana glanced at Dani. The other girl was completely lost in the music and Santana was struck by how beautiful she looked. Her blonde hair was glistening slightly in the sunlight that was reflecting through the windows and there was passion in her eyes that Santana had never seen before. It was a passion for music that Santana knew ran wild in this girl's heart. Santana had seen ambition and talent in many people but she had never seen someone with this much passion in their eyes when they were performing. At least not up close or in person.

_But Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo)_

_Here comes the sun, and I say_

_It's all right_

_Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo)_

_Here comes the sun, and I say _

_It's all right_

_It's all right_

_Sun, sun, sun_

_Here it comes…_

As the song ended all Santana wanted to do was lean forward and kiss her but the thought was quickly pushed to the back of her mind as Dani took off her guitar and put on her jacket. The two sat in silence for a minute before finally Dani broke it.

"I really love singing with you." Santana smiled.

"Me too." Dani put her guitar back over her shoulder and stretched her arms out in front of her. "Where did you learn to play the guitar anyway?"

"My dad. He used to play his for me when I was a baby to get me to sleep if I was being restless or whenever I got scared he'd play for me and then when I was seven, he bought me my own guitar for my birthday and taught me how to play. Been playing ever since."

"That's awesome." Dani gave her a warm smile that was almost turning Santana into a puddle at her feet. Whatever kind of powers this girl had clearly had a hold on her that they did not want to break.

"I should probably get going, I told my mom I'd skype her after work." Santana stood up quickly as Dani stood and was fixing her guitar strap on her shoulder.

"Ugh Dani." She looked up and as their eyes locked it was like Santana had forgotten how to speak.

"Yeah Santana? You okay?" Santana nodded and took a deep breath.

"Can I walk you home?" The small smile on Dani's face turned into a big grin at Santana's question.

"I'd love that."


	2. Chapter 2

Santana had never felt angrier at herself as she entered her apartment. Kurt and Rachel were in the living room and the second she walked in they knew something was wrong and it kind of scared them.

"Satan alert." Kurt muttered to Rachel under his breath as Santana threw her stuff down on the floor and walked straight in to the kitchen, pulling one of the beers she'd bought with her fake ID out of the fridge. Unfortunately for Kurt, trying to be quiet had not had the desired effect.

"Kurt for once in your life, please just shut your trap" Santana took a large swig of her beer.

"Santana are you okay?"

"I'm fine." With that Santana grabbed her bag and her coat and stormed off to her bedroom. Pulling the curtain closed. Santana lay down on her bed, head straight down on her pillows, plugged in her headphones and pressed play.

As the music flowed through her headphones all Santana could think about was how much of a coward she had been tonight. She was so ready to take that chance with Dani and make a move and then out of nowhere this crippling feeling of self-doubt. Where the hell had it come from?

"_So this is me." Dani said gesturing up towards her apartment building. _

"_Wow fancy building." _

"_Don't let appearances fool you, this is just the wrapping. I actually live in a brothel above a crystal meth lab." Santana laughed at the girls joke. _

"_Well you've got to pay the bills somehow right? And who wants to be a waitress forever?" _

"_Exactly" Dani said with a giggle. The shorter girl looked right up into Santana's eyes and bit her lip. Santana had noticed her doing it a lot around her lately and wondered if it was some kind of nervous habit. Whatever it was it was kind of driving her crazy. This girl was seriously hot. As she looked at Dani, Santana was hit with a rush of feelings that she hadn't felt since she was with Brittany. Even though it had only been a week and nothing had even happened, Santana could feel herself falling for Dani and falling hard and that completely terrified her. Not only was Dani unbelievably beautiful, In the very short time she had known her Santana had come to learned that she was also unbelievably kind, caring, talented, funny and just an amazing person. _

"_So you should probably go inside." Dani nodded her head but never took her eyes off the other girl._

"_Thanks for walking me home Santana. It was really sweet of you."_

"_That's what friends are for right?" As soon as the words left her mouth she felt like an absolute idiot. Dani had a look on her face that a mixture of confusion, disappointment and hurt all rolled up into one. _

"_Right, sure friends." Dani leaned up and wrapped Santana into a hug. As Santana hugged her back she had never felt so stupid and cowardly in all her life. Why did she say what she said? She should have just kissed her like she wanted to the second she met her. When Dani pulled away she gave her a sad half smile. "I'll see you tomorrow Santana." And with those last words Dani hurried into her apartment building leaving Santana alone on the street wishing she could be braver and just go for what she wants._

"Santana?" Rachel poked her head around the curtain hand covering her eyes. "Are you decent?" When she didn't get an answer she uncovered her eyes and saw Santana face planted on the bed. Rachel pulled the curtain back and her and Kurt walked over to Santana's bed and sat down. Feeling the movement Santana pulled out a headphone, turned her head and sat up with a groan.

"What happened to curtain means privacy?" She half snapped at them.

"Santana we're worried about you. You're clearly upset." Rachel reached into her pocket and handed her a tissue, Santana hadn't even realised she had been crying. Santana begrudgingly took the tissue from her roommate and dabbed at her eyes.

"Okay before I talk to either of you about this lets set a few ground rules." They both nodded. "No hugging especially group hugs. No fan girl squealing, I'm looking at you on that one Kurt." Kurt opened his mouth to object but when Santana raised an eyebrow at him he quickly withdrew his protest. "And Berry no telling me I told you so. Agreed?"

"Agreed" They both said in unison.

"It's about Dani."

"Well we already knew that but go on."

"Wait what?" Rachel laughed at her roommates shock.

"Santana I work with both of you and I see the way you look at each other. Plus Kurt and I both have classes with Dani at NYADA and for the last week she has done nothing but talk and ask about you."

"She has? Really?" Santana asked trying to hide the excitement in her voice before reality came crashing back down. Rachel just nodded her head and smiled at her.

"So what happened?"

"Well we sang a duet together after work. _Here Comes The Sun_ by The Beatles." Kurt let out a little squeal and then quickly covered his mouth when Santana glared at him. "And then I offered to walk her home and we were talking and she was looking at me and doing the thing with her lip she always does and she thanked me for walking her home and I said…" Santana let out a sigh.

"You said what? Come on Santana it cannot be that bad."

"I said that's what friends are for. I put us right in the fucking friend zone." Santana flopped back down on to her pillows. "She was waiting for me to kiss her and I acted like a fucking scared little bitch and blew it." Santana put her hands over her eyes. "Why am I such a coward?" Kurt pulled Santana up by the arm and made her look him in the eye.

"Santana Lopez, never ever let me hear you say that about yourself ever again. Now honey you are many things, you're stubborn, you have quite a temper on you and let's face it most of the time you are a complete bitch." Santana simply nodded her head in agreement. "But you're also smart, confident, and beautiful and you are a lot braver than you give yourself credit for."

"Kurt's right Santana. Look how far you've come in the last few years. When you first joined the glee club you were literally my least favourite person at that school. I mean seriously there were so many times when I wanted to just scream and you but I didn't out of fear that you would beat the crap out of me. There were times I seriously just wanted to slap you right across your face."

"Where are you going with this Rachel?" Kurt asked her questioningly.

"But even though we still had our differences, through everything that happened and everything we experienced together in glee club, somehow you've become one of my best friends. I mean you even put a picture of me up in your locker. I went from being terrified of you to being really proud of you because lord knows if I had been in your situation with everything that happened with Finn and the campaign video." Santana closed her eyes at the mention of that painful memory. "If that was me I would not have been able to get through that like you did."

"Me either." Santana laughed at Kurt agreeing with Rachel.

"Oh Kurt come on, you suffered way more than I ever did."

"We all have our struggles Santana. Yes I was bullied out of school and tormented beyond belief, but I was never outed to anyone, I never had to deal with having a deadline to tell my loved ones before they found out from some sick campaign ad. Like I said Santana, you're many things but you are most definitely not a coward.

Santana was now openly yet softly crying at her friend's words. It still shocked her a lot of the time that she was able to call Rachel Barbra Berry and Kurt Elizabeth Hummel her friends but that's what they were. They had been through a lot together and no matter how mean she was to them and how much she put them down, when she needed someone or when they needed someone, the three of them had each other's backs.

"Just talk to Dani, she'll understand. It happens to the best of us." Santana nodded her head and dried her eyes. "Can we hug you now?" Rachel asked hopefully. Santana rolled her eyes before smiling and nodding and opening her arms to her friends.

Santana was feeling slightly better about the situation and tomorrow she was determined to talk to Dani and let her know exactly how she felt about her.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: I Wanna See You Be Brave – Part 3

Pairing: Dantana

Summary: Santana has feelings for Dani but can she be brave enough to make the first move? Part based on new stills and part AU and my own stuff.

A/N: Okay first of all I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has been reading my fic. It really makes me happy to hear that you are enjoying it! I have decided that this is going to be the third and final part of this fic.

Santana tossed and turned but as hard as she tried she just could not fall asleep. Her mind was too cluttered for her to allow herself to drift off into a dream world. She wished that she could simply switch off but right now her inner most thoughts were blinding her with big flashing lights that spelt out one thing: Dani.

Looking at the clock on her bedside table Santana groaned when she saw it was 2 in the morning. Realising that she definitely wasn't going to fall asleep, she pulled herself out of bed and walked into the living room grabbing her cell phone on her way out. She threw herself down onto the sofa and put her head in her hands, rubbing her eyes. Flipping open her phone Santana clicked on to her pictures and started scrolling through. She knew exactly what she was gonna find and it made her smile. As soon as she clicked on the first photo she started laughing.

_Santana pulled everything out of her purse, cursing under her breath when she couldn't find what she was looking for. Today was truly a terrible day._

"_Stupid damn cell phone." _

"_Bad day?" Santana turned at the sound of the voice to find Dani leaning against the doorway. Santana sighed as she began throwing stuff back into her bag._

"_I can't find my damn phone. You know I bet that creep Karl stole it so he could jerk off to my pictures or something. I swear I will end him." _

"_And that is an image I will never get out of my head. Thank you very much." Santana couldn't stop the small smile that came on her face every time she was around Dani. Even if she was in a terrible mood. Dani walked over and held out her hand. Santana looked down and saw her cell phone sitting in the palm of the other girl's hand._

"_Where did you – "_

"_You dropped it outside this morning, so now you don't need to end Karl. I was gonna give it to you earlier but we got really busy really fast so I thought I had better hold on to it to you know, keep it safe and all." Dani bit her lip as Santana took the phone out of her hand. _

"_Thank you so much Dani. You are my saviour." _

"_All in a days work." She put her hands on her hips and posed like a superhero as she said it making Santana laugh. "Besides I had myself a little fun before I gave it back." Santana eyed the girl mysteriously._

"_What did you do?"_

"_Why don't you check your pictures and find out." With that Dani winked at her and walked out of the room. Santana nervously put in her pin code wondering how on earth Dani had figured it out. She must have asked Rachel for help. Santana clicked on her gallery and her eyes widened in shock before she started laughing. Somehow in the midst of a very busy and horrible work day, Dani had managed to take 78 selfies on her phone. Some were goofy faces. Some were of her and random customers. A few were of her and Rachel. But it was the last one that made Santana's heart flutter. Dani had taken a simple normal picture of herself but she was blowing a kiss into the camera. All Santana could think as she looked at the pictures was how the hell could someone be so damn adorable yet so sexy at the same time and all she knew was that she definitely wanted to get to know this girl a little better. _

Santana smiled as she thought about that day just a few days earlier. It was hard to believe she had only met Dani a week ago, it felt like she had known her for so much longer, they were certainly in sync at work. Dani even knew how Santana liked her coffee, black 4 sugars. She always knew how to put a smile on Santana's face when work was awful and she knew exactly what to say to make her laugh and when she and Rachel had a little disagreement at work and it had got a little out of hand, Dani had surprisingly been on her side. Santana knew she wasn't alone in her affections, that much was obvious but why was Dani waiting for her to make the first move?

At that moment Santana had answered her own question. Santana knew that Rachel had told Dani about Brittany and about Santana's hot and cold past when it came to relationships, something that Santana had made clear to Rachel was definitely not okay when talking to strangers about her or you know just talking to anyone. Her love life was none of her business. But what if what Rachel had told Dani was why she hadn't made a move either.

Santana knew, once again through Rachel that Dani had come out of the closet at an earlier age than she had. Dani had told her family and friends on her 15th birthday much to their surprise but acceptance. In Santana's mind, Dani was braver and more accepting of herself than she would ever be, even if she had fully accepted her sexuality and was happy with who she was. Suddenly Santana knew what she had to do. She had to show Dani exactly how brave she could be.

Santana jumped up of the sofa and ran back into her bedroom. She quickly put on her sneakers, shrugged on a jacket putting her wallet in the pocket and grabbed her keys before hurrying out of the door as fast as she could. She knew it was late but right now the only part of her that actually cared about the time was so incredibly tiny. Running out on to the street, Santana looked around for a cab. Seeing one parked at the end of the block she made a run for it. She banged on the top of the cab and the Cabbie rolled down his window.

"I'm off the clock lady." Santana tried to reason with him but he just wouldn't do it. She flipped him off and cursed at him in Spanish before running to the subway. She made it through the turnstile and only just got on the train and she was out of breath as the subway rode its route and 10 minutes later when the train pulled up at the stop closest to where she needed to be Santana quickly ran off the train and up and out of the station. She made it to her destination five minutes later.

Standing outside the building Santana realised she had no idea which buzzer to press. She pulled out her phone and called the number of the person she'd come to see. The phone rang and rang and just when Santana was about to hang up there was a click and a very sleepy sounding voice came through from the other side.

"Santana?" Santana couldn't help but think that Dani sounded incredibly cute when she was tired. Dani let out a yawn. "It's 2:30 in the morning."

"I know I'm sorry to wake you but I needed to tell you something."

"And it seriously couldn't wait until tomorrow?" Santana shook her head before realising that Dani couldn't see her.

"I'm outside."

"What?"

"I was gonna come up but I didn't know what buzzer to press. Can you let me in?" Santana heard Dani sigh down the phone.

"Look Santana its really late and I am really tired so whatever you came here to say ju-"

"Dani please, I just need a minute. Please." The other end of the line was silent for a minute before Dani finally replied.

"3D." The panel buzzed and Santana pushed the door open. Heart racing, she practically jumped up the stairs to the third floor. When she got to 3D she gently knocked on the door. Dani opened it right away and was stood there with her arms folded.

"Hi." Santana said giving the other girl a warm smile.

"You are so lucky my roommates are out of town right now." Her tone of voice was slightly annoyed but Dani smiled at her just the same. "So what was that couldn't possibly have waited about 7 more hours?" Dani opened her arms gesturing her words as she spoke, questioning Santana's reason for showing up on her doorstep at this hour.

Santana opened her mouth trying to find the right words and when she couldn't think of them. She just decided to go for it. Santana took a step closer to Dani and taking her face in her hands she crashed her lips against the shorter girls. Dani stumbled clearly taken aback and in slight shock. It took her a couple of seconds before she returned the kiss. Her hands tangled in Santana's hair as the kiss intensified desperately trying to pull them impossibly closer together.

Santana's entire body was on fire as she kissed Dani. Suddenly she felt so incredibly stupid for not making a move the day they met. Santana felt alive for the first time in months. When they pulled apart, Dani rested her forehead on Santana's and smiled at her.

"Well. I'm really glad you told me that." They both laughed and Dani pecked her on the lips again.

"Me too."

"Sure took you long enough."

"Yeah I know. Sorry about that." Dani shrugged.

"It's okay. You're just really lucky I think you're cute." Santana kissed her one more time before forcing herself to pull away.

"I should go."

"You can stay here if you want? Like I said my roommates are out of town. I mean I'm not saying come and sleep in my bed, you could sleep in Ian's room or on the sofa or…not that I don't want you to sleep in my room it's just…" Santana planted one more kiss on her lips to stop her rambling.

"As much as I'd really, really like to stay. I'd rather go home and get some rest so I can take you out tomorrow night." Dani nodded her head.

"I'd love that."


End file.
